Best ETFs for February 2024

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a way for investors to diversify their portfolio across different asset classes through a single investment product that can be bought and sold on an exchange like a stock. Top ETFs typically have a large asset base and lower operating costs. Investors can also use ETFs to mitigate investment risks to gauge the performance of an index, sector, or industry to make more informed investment decisions.

Below, we outline the top equity, bond, fixed income, commodities, and currency ETFs that generated the highest returns over the last month. We have excluded leveraged and inverse ETFs, as well as funds with less than $50 million in assets under management (AUM). All data are current as of Jan. 25, 2024.

Equity ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS)

• One-month performance: 42%
• Expense ratio: 0.83%
• Annual dividend yield: N/A
• 30-day average daily volume: 7,073,967
• AUM: $777.3 million
• Inception date: Sept. 1, 2020
• Issuer: AdvisorShares

MSOS is an actively managed ETF that focuses on investing in the U.S. cannabis industry. The fund’s investment objective is to provide exposure to U.S. companies in the cannabis and hemp business. This includes companies that are directly involved in the cultivation, production, marketing, and distribution of cannabis or hemp products for both medicinal and recreational purposes.

The fund is mostly invested in swaps of top U.S. cannabis names, such as Green Thumb Industries Inc., listed on Canadian stock markets due to securities regulations.  

Bond ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: iShares Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF (IGBH)

• One-month performance: 2.37%
• Expense ratio: 0.14%
• Annual dividend yield: 7.2%
• 30-day average daily volume: 53,862
• AUM: $88.4 million
• Inception date: July 22, 2015
• Issuer: iShares

This ETF seeks to track the investment results of the BlackRock Interest Rate Hedged Long-Term Corporate Bond Index. This index is composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds with remaining maturities greater than 10 years.

One of the key characteristics of the IGBH ETF is its focus on minimizing the impact of interest rate fluctuations on the value of long-term corporate bonds. The fund does this by employing interest rate hedging strategies, which typically involve the use of derivative instruments like interest rate swaps. Despite the Federal Reserve expressing a desire to start cutting interest rates this year, interest rate hedged fixed income products were still in high demand.

Fixed-Income ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: Janus Henderson B-BBB CLO ETF (JBBB)

• One-month performance: 1.48%
• Expense ratio: 0.50%
• Annual dividend yield: 7.99%
• 30-day average daily volume: 97,409
• AUM: $181.5
• Inception date: Jan. 11, 2022
• Issuer: Janus Henderson

The Janus Henderson B-BBB CLO ETF invests primarily in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). CLOs are a type of structured financial product formed by pooling together a collection of loans, usually corporate loans, and then issuing tranches of securities backed by this pool of loans. Investors in CLOs receive periodic payments from the underlying loans, with the risk and return varying across different tranches.

The primary mandate of this ETF is to provide exposure to the CLO market, specifically targeting CLOs rated in the B to BBB range. This means it focuses on the lower end of
investment-grade CLOs and the higher end of non-investment-grade CLOs. The fund aims to achieve a balance between risk and return by investing in these types of CLOs. The fund’s portfolio is comprised of U.S. CLOs, primarily in the 5-to-7-year maturity range.

Commodities ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: United States Gasoline Fund LP (UGA)

• One-month performance: 6.0%
• Expense ratio: .97%
• Annual dividend yield: N/A
• 30-day average daily volume: 29,344
• AUM: $89.5 million
• Inception date: Feb. 26, 2008
• Issuer: USCF Investments

The United States Gasoline Fund LP (UGA) is an ETF that primarily invests in gasoline futures contracts. UGA aims to track the movements of gasoline prices by investing in
futures contracts on gasoline. These contracts are typically traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The fund may also invest in futures contracts for other types of petroleum-based fuels, and it might hold cash or cash equivalents. The primary goal of UGA is to provide investors with exposure to the gasoline market without the need for a futures account.

The primary instrument used by the ETF to track gasoline prices is the Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygen Blending (RBOB) gasoline futures contract, of which the ETF currently holds 953. Recently, stronger-than-expected consumer demand and economic numbers have led to a rise in this fund.

Currency ETF with the Best 1-Month Return: Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP)

• One-month performance: 2.32%
• Expense ratio: 0.77%
• Annual dividend yield: N/A
• 30-day average daily volume: 1,718,459
• AUM: $436.2 million
• Inception date: Feb. 20, 2007
• Issuer: Invesco

The Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) is an ETF with a specific focus on tracking the performance of the U.S. dollar relative to a basket of world currencies. The primary mandate of UUP is to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Deutsche Bank Long USD Currency Portfolio Index – Excess Return.

This index provides a benchmark for the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of six major world currencies: the Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), British Pound (GBP), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Swedish Krona (SEK), and Swiss Franc (CHF). UUP is designed for investors looking to gain exposure to the U.S. dollar in their investment portfolios. The fund achieves its objective by investing in futures contracts on the U.S. dollar and may also hold U.S. Treasury securities and money market funds for cash management purposes.

By using futures contracts, the fund aims to replicate the performance of the U.S. dollar relative to the index’s basket of currencies. The ETF had a strong start to the year, driven by the surprising resilience of the U.S. economy compared to the other countries, while dovish bets on the Fed’s rate cuts were pared back in the face of economic strength and the slower-than-expected pace of declining inflation.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above ETFs.